Her Excellency The President of India Tmt.Prathiba Patil
Copy to: The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Thiru.Manmohan Singh
Subject: Unconstitutional governance without proving floor test and illegal decisions supported by Lt.Governor/sack the Lt.Governor regarding
We have a tainted Lt.Governor who without giving preference to order floor test had installed One Man as Chief minister and who at the moment seems to have lost his majority as per Times of India report dated 10th June 2011 which foretells that having to face revolt from within , the current One Man Chief Minister who is NOT A CABINET had recommended nominating 3 MLA’s to the Puducherry Legislative Assembly to cook up a majority to legalize his illegal and unconstitutional governance since he was sworn in as Chief Minister with one independent extending support and thereby enjoying 16 member support in 30 member legislative assembly at the time of him being sworn in by Lt.Governor on 16th May 2011. The Lt.Governor who has no moral authority to continue in office the moment he came under Enforcement Directorate scanner which resulted in national televisions unearthing many more skeletons of corruption in his cupboard, had not applied his mind while calling the 16 Member backed Chief Minister to order immediate floor test before stepping into governance.
THE CONTROVERSY on the powers of the Judiciary vis-à-vis the Executive and the Legislature — focusing on the Supreme Court's recent directive to the Jharkhand Governor to bring forward the date to test the strength of the different parties in the House from March 15 to March 11, and its view that the order should be treated as "the notification for convening the State Assembly" — is good for the country because of two important reasons. First, it has once again brought to the fore the inappropriateness of the political functioning of the country, as testified to by none other than the highest court of the land. Second, the controversy has underlined the allied issue of who will then ensure that moral standards are safeguarded in the running of the country.
Whatever the debate swirling around the Jharkhand Governor, Syed Sibte Razi's actions regarding the calling of Mr. Shibu Soren to form the State Government and giving him more than ample time to prove his majority on the floor of the House, the fact is almost incontrovertible that the standard of political life in the country has sunk to a new low in recent years.
This same story is repeated in Puducherry with Lt.Governor Iqbal Singh swearing a Chief Minister with one vote majority and not ordering the convening of the legislature within shortest time.
Clearly, since politics and politicians always form the core of a parliamentary democracy, the onset of this unwanted trend is dangerous for the healthy growth of the Indian republic.
It is just possible — especially in the interests of the keeping the "separation of powers" intact in the constitutional scheme of things which governs the functioning of our republic — that the President would have taken matters to their logical conclusion and got the Lt.Governor to do exactly what the Supreme Court has done — among other things, to get the floor-test completed in the shortest possible time.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged from the May 1996 national elections as the single largest party in the Lok Sabha, but without enough strength to prove a majority on the floor of parliament. Under Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the BJP lasted 13 days in power. With all political parties wishing to avoid another round of elections, a 14-party coalition led by the Janata Dal emerged to form a government known as the United Front, under the former Chief Minister of Karnataka, H.D. Deve Gowda
Undying lust for power and failed political ambitions, transform even a highly educated and experienced person into ordinary guy when he is appointed as a governor of a state. There are some glaring examples in the 64 years old political history of India when the governors came out rejecting all constitutional binding and morals.
Lt.Governor of Puducherry appointed by the President and holding the office at the pleasure of the President, have started generating more political smock and polluting the democratic atmosphere of this Union Territory.
In the original plan of the draft constitution was to have elected governors but in the Constituent Assembly it was replaced by the method of appointment by the President just to save unnecessary wastage of the state revenue and to avoid friction between two elected bodies of the Governor and the Chief Minister.
The battle over Uttar Pradesh started between the then governor Romesh Bhandari and the Mr. Kalyan Singh for inviting Mr.Jagdambika Pal instead of Mr. Kalyan Singh who was in majority. The Governor Romesh Bhandari created constitutional crisis by sacking the Kalyan Singh government. The governor's action was arbitrary as he should have asked Kalyan Singh to prove his majority on the floor of the House. NDA accused him for not giving any reason why did he allow Mr. Pal to take oath as Chief Minister rejecting the claim of majority in assembly, presented by Mr. Kalyan Singh
It was first such instance where the governor acted like an agent of the centre. That undemocratic tradition was copied by other governors in the country just to please the powerful political lobby. The Governor of Bihar, Buta Singh's controversial decision to recommend the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly in 2005 was sharply criticized by the Supreme Court. The court ruled that Mr. Singh had acted in haste and misled the federal cabinet because he did not want a particular party claiming to form the government, to come to power. On January 26, 2006 Singh sent a fax to President offering to resign from his post.
The third in the series was Mr. Sibtey Razi who created controversy in March 2005 by rejecting the claim of NDA to form a government in Jharkhand, and invited Shibu Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to take oath as the chief Minister of the state. It started a dramatic chain of reactions in the country and the governor Razi was widely criticized for being partisan and summoned by President Kalam to New Delhi for an explanation. Subsequently, an NDA government led by Arjun Munda was sworn in.
It is 2011 the ex- law minister and the governor of Karnataka staged the same drama of politicizing the governor’s office after recommending the dissolution of Yeddiyurappa ministry without asking the CM to prove majority on the floor in the Assembly and recommended to keep the state under president rule. Surprisingly most of the governors who broke the Constitutional laws are highly educated and experienced bureaucrats and ex minister.
1. Election results were declared by 13th of May 2011.But the Members of Legislative Assembly could not take oath till pro-tem Speaker was nominated on 1st June 2011. Chief Minister himself was not sworn in as Member of the Legislative Assembly for till 3rd June for 19 days. This violated the rights of the elected members since Chief Minister as reported sarcastically by Junior Vikatan weekly and other dailies consults for each and everything astrologers and saints dead in their samathis , date was fixed taking astrology into consideration.
2. A single individual cannot be termed as Cabinet. In his past tenure too the current one man army as his supporters hail through cut outs Mr.N.Rangasamy did not consult his cabinet and ruled autocratically.
The Cabinet system with active connivance of Lt.Governor had collapsed in the Union Territory of Puducherry. One man sworn in as Chief Minister. Long delay to choose Ministers. Till that time one man acting as cabinet, and even after nominating ministers not allocating portfolios nor proving his majority in floor test continuously with no reason through benevolence of Tainted Iqbal Singh.
In Supreme Court Case No: Appeal [civil] 1732 of 2008 between Panam Chand and Others versus State of Himachal Pradesh Lordships S.B.Sinha and V.S.Sirpurkar observed “Constitution of India does not envisage functioning of the Government through the Chief Minister alone. It speaks of Council of Ministers. The duties or functions of the Council of Ministers are ordinarily governed by the provisions contained in the rules of business framed under article 166 of the Constitution of India. All governmental orders must comply with the requirements of the statute as also the constitutional provisions. Our constitution envisages a rule of law and not rule of men. It recognizes however so high one may be, he is under the law and the Constitution. All constitutional functionaries must therefore function within the constitutional limits.”
The situation in Puducherry, where one man acted as cabinet minister for almost one month thereby taking decisions in unconstitutional fashion and failure to prove his majority in floor test, necessitates the President of India to immediately sack the Lt.Governor who had violated constitution by his connivance with unconstitutional governance and nominate a new Lt.Governor to uphold the spirit and letter of the Constitution of India.
The provision for nominated MLA’s have to be read in accordance with the procedure laid for nominated Members of Parliament to Rajya Sabha, wherein 12 dignitaries and men of letters and eminence could be inducted. It is not meant to accommodate party men, and during NDA regime I had written to then Attorney General on this matter and there has been letters exchanged between then Defense Minister and Home Minister about men of such criteria alone must find place through nominations.
But before proving majority inducting men to add to numbers throwing into winds the purpose for which provision is kept in UT Act for nominating members is unconstitutional backed by an unconstitutional recommendation of a Lt.Governor. This needs to be stalled to uphold constitution.
With Regards
Yours fraternally
N.Nandhivarman
General Secretary Dravida Peravai
12.06.2011
No comments:
Post a Comment